Doc Coyle Says Playing With Trivium Is ‘Fun as Hell’

The second annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest is in high gear, laying waste across American in the summer swelter. We held court on Sunday, July 12, 2009 at the San Manuel Amphitheatre, located in the dusty (and incredibly hot) San Bernardino region of Southern California. Despite the blistering heat, metalheads came out in droves and moshed like the weather was not a factor!

God Forbid guitarist Doc Coyle commented on filling in for Trivium bassist Paolo Gregoletto, who had to miss the first date of the tour due to the extraction of those pesky wisdom teeth. "It was fun as hell," Coyle told Noisecreep, who is actually a guitarist by trade. "I haven't done that s--- in forever, but I like their music already and had two days to learn how to play their set and I had to bring it. I was feeling it. I don't know if I can play their guitar solos. They are good and nasty as shit. I had best show, though, since they had equipment problems the first day. My s--- was smooth," the guitarist said with a wink.

We spotted a shirtless Every Time I Die guitarist Jordan Buckley on site, even though his band wasn't performing. Turns out he left the freezing cold confines of his native Buffalo for love and warm weather.

The side stages featured uber-metal acts like Whitechapel and Job For a Cowboy, along with more accessible acts like All That Remains. Cannibal Corpse were impressive in the ungodly heat, whipping their hair while bassist Alex Webster was playing pickless in the desert heat. The corpse paint on Poland's Behemoth may have melted off by the end of their set, but they still looked pretty evil and remain the blackest of the black.

Over on the mainstage, Bullet for My Valentine shredded their way through their set, while Killswitch Engage, known for their onstage humor, performed wearing tux tees amidst pyro, which was a new convention for them!

Slayer's set was full of classics - 'Raining Blood,' 'Dead Skin Mask,' 'South of Heaven' - and pyro! We think we burst some blood vessels in our necks from headbanging with such fury. Marilyn Manson had a hard act to follow with Slayer, but his drama was anticipated, since he hasn't been doing any interviews on site and wasn't seen much backstage. Manson played draped in an American flag and wasn't overweight as some spectators were speculating.